Retired and Trippin

Our last day on the road (this trip). Driving away from our hotel in Ponca City at 8:25 it was cloudy and 30 degrees. Our route today was 77 north into Kansas, 166 east, 75 north, 400 east, 169 north to Olathe and I-35 north to home. We stopped for a walk at Elk City Lake State Park off of 75 near Lake City and Independence. The sun was out for part of our walk. It was time for lunch when we left the park so we dined at the Down Home Family Restaurant in Independence, KS. We arrived home at 3:00 having driven 282 miles. The high temp today was 46. To view all the photos taken today click on the following link:  Day 14 Photos TOTAL trip mileage was 3208 miles.

It's day 13 of our trip. Thirteen is an unlucky number but today was great nonetheless. We left our hotel in Woodward at 8:00. It was cloudy and 36 degrees but eventually the clouds gave way to sun. Highway 412 took us east out of Woodward to 50 north to 50A east to Alabaster Caverns State Park ( ACSP ), where we arrived at about 8:30. The first guided tour of the cave was at 9:00 so we spent some time checking out the area including Cedar Canyon. There was alabaster all over the ground. We enjoyed the cave tour (the largest gypsum cave open to the public in the USA - or something like that) but cameras were not allowed so I have no photos. Cedar Canyon alabaster on the ground Highway 50 took us back south to 50B west to Boiling Springs State Park just north and west of Mooreland, OK. We enjoyed the springs (Boiling Springs and a spring in the lake/pond near the swimming pool) and our hike to the North Canadian River. As we were walking along we heard a loud

We left our hotel in Moriarty, NM a little before 8:00 under sunny skies with a temperature of 21. Our route today was I-40 eastbound, 335 northbound on the east edge of Amarillo, TX, 60 northeast into Oklahoma, 283 north to Shattuck, and 15 east to Woodward. We lost an hour today when we drove from mountain zone time to central zone time. About 64 miles down I-40 the Poon was getting 30 mpg, which is the best I've ever seen on this car. It didn't last a lot longer but mileage today was still around 27 mpg. Here is blurry photo proof of the 30 mpg. We stopped in Tucumcari, NM to stretch and score a cup of coffee. We stopped in Bushland, TX, just west of Amarillo, for a desperately needed bathroom break and to gas up Poonie. I have ben hankering for some good pizza so while stopped in Bushland I Googled the best pizza in Amarillo. We ate lunch at 575 Pizza and it was LARRAPIN good! On the north edge of Canadian, Texas we stopped to see the Historic Canadian River

The activity today was planned just the previous night. Yesterday we went much further than planned so we had a day to kill. We decided to visit the El Malpais National Monument near Grants, NM. Our route today was Hwy 6 west and north to I-40 west to the El Malpais National Monument at exit 89.  I-40 then took us east to our day's destination, Moriarty, NM. We left our hotel at 8:30. It was a bitter cold 10 degrees and Poonie was covered with frost. The temperature never reached 30 and at times the wind made it feel even colder. Despite the unusually cold weather for this area, we had a good time. Our first stop at El Malpais was the Sandstone Bluffs Overlook. It overlooked an immense lava flow. I took a photo of the sign that explained how the lava flow came to be. If you want to read it click on the link to the photos at the end. To access the overlook we had to drive a mile and a half on a dirt road that was mostly snow covered. that is Mt. Taylor in the backg

We left the resort in Tucson, AZ at 6:45. It was dark and 39 degrees. Our route today was I-10 eastbound to Lordsburg, NM and 90 north to Silver City. The plan was to drive north from Silver City to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. I checked the web site for the cliff dwellings the night before and it said they were operating on winter hours but it did not say what winter hours were. So I called them from Silver City. I was told they were open but was warned that the roads on the way up were ice covered. No way was I driving Poonie on ice covered mountain roads. So we made new plans. We stopped at a McDonalds for a foo-foo coffee and to check out the map. As our luck today would have it, McDonalds did not have the milk necessary to make the foo-foo coffee. So we settled for French fries. We canceled our hotel reservation in Silver City and made a new one for Los Lunas. Our intended route from Silver City was 180 south a very short distance and then I intended to take 1

We arrived at our resort in Tucson on Saturday, February 1, so we had all day Sunday and Monday to rest, relax and have a good time. We needed it because retirement and travel are so exhausting. We spent our days walking, swimming, hot tubbing, eating, reading and resting. We had a poolside room so when we walked out our front door and off the porch we were on the pool deck. On Sunday afternoon and evening we watched Super Bowl 54 and were delighted to see the Chiefs' 4th quarter comeback victory over San Francisco. It was one heck of a game. the view from our room's front porch Tomorrow we are back on the road again. To see all the photos taken at our resort click here:  Resort Pics

At 8:00 we left Sierra Vista under sunny skies with a temperature of 41 degrees. Yet another beautiful day. I wonder when our luck will run out. Our route today was Hwy 90 north and I-10 west to Tucson. On our way up 90 we drove through a Border Patrol checkpoint. They looked into our car briefly, saw two harmless old fogies and waved us through. We could have had an illegal immigrant hid under all the stuff in our back seat. Our tourist stop for the day was Saguaro National Park East. It was an enjoyable eight mile drive through the park with stops for photos and hiking. I hope you don't overdose on saguaro photos. One of the interesting things we learned was that young saguaros frequently start growing under "nurse" trees. This photo provides a great example. While in the park and after our hike the temperature reached 66 so we were able to drive with the top down for the first time this trip. We had lunch at Viv's Cafe in Tucson. Viv must be a